Warrior Queens and everyday Heroines

AMAZONS!
From the horse-riding women who brandished their swords on Greek temple friezes to queer icons of pop culture, all the way through the female rulers who held their own against their male counterparts  and the pioneering women of the music industry who fought to become composers or orchestra conductors – in music, too, women have had to struggle to carve out their place in the world.

Wednesday 21 April, 8:00 p.m.
Véronique Gens and Le Concert d’Astrée – directed by Emmanuelle Haïm:
Baroque Amazons
In honour of the opening of the exhibition ‘Amazons’, the Louvre Auditorium is thrilled to welcome for the first time the Amazon of ancient music, as well as two of the most celebrated female French musical artists in the world! Emmanuelle Haïm, at the head of her ensemble Le Concert d’Astrée, accompanied by the soprano Véronique Gens, allows us to tread in the footsteps of the warrior queens of Baroque opera, or tragédie lyrique.

Wednesday 19 May, 8:00 p.m.
ApotropaïK:
Heirs of Penthesilea
This ensemble of young musicians reinventing medieval music reminds us that, in the time of the Crusades, powerful women were entrusted with holding castles and abbeys when men went off to war. From Hildegard von Bingen to Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella d’Este, explore the fascinating history of the women who made Europe.

Wednesday 2 June, 8:00 p.m.
Ensemble Aedes, directed by Mathieu Romano:
The Struggle of Women Composers 
(Cécile Chaminade, Clémence de Grandval and... Claude Debussy)
For centuries, women composers were a kind of Amazon, struggling for recognition in a world dominated by men. Partnering with the Palazzetto Bru Zane, the Louvre Auditorium puts on a world-class recreation of the choral symphony Les Amazones by Cécile Chaminade and of Clémence de Grandval’s lyrical portrait of the quintessential warrior woman, Joan of Arc.

Saturday 5 June, 8:00 p.m.
Le Poème Harmonique, directed by Vincent Dumestre – with Eva Zaïcik, Anthea Pichanick, Anas Séguin
L’Uomo femina (Baldassare Galuppi)
Spatially adapted for concert performance based on the production by Agnès Jaoui
On this mysterious island, women are in power and make war, while the men, confined to the seraglio, primp and preen to enhance their charms. Agnès Jaoui and Vincent Dumestre bring back to life a forgotten Venetian opera, inviting reflection as much as it does laughter, with the help of a remarkable team of soloists that includes Eva Zaïcik and Anas Séguin.
With a pre-concert talk by Agnès Jaoui

Wednesday 16 June, 8:00 p.m.
Poiesis Quartet:
Queer Amazons!
This quartet of young string musicians combines musical mastery (having won first place in the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition) and dedicated advocacy for contemporary queer culture – which claims the figure of the Amazon as an icon. Here, they invite us to explore the new generation of American composers, paying homage to the pioneering African-American composer Florence Price with a performance of her String Quartet No. 1.